Portman Takes Us Behind the Scenes

Natalie Portman always loved that part of the end credits to the spoof movie The Naked Gun that read, “What the hell is a grip?” The innovative Web site that she and cofounder/CEO Christine Aylward launched early Thursday morning, MakingOf, aims to answer that question—and much, much more. The pair was on hand yesterday to premiere the site to a small audience of filmmakers and industry folks at the Festival’s Filmmaker Lounge at the Union Square Ballroom.

“I always wondered why there isn’t a Web site that encapsulated the experience of visiting a friend on a movie set,” said Portman. “Our site is supposed to give access to people who don’t have a friend they can visit.” And that means exclusive behind-the-scenes content and some serious insight into what all the different people who work on a movie do. “There are so many people who contribute in ways that aren’t highlighted,” she said. “Jobs that people don’t even know about.”

The small taste they gave us of some of the content on the site proved that MakingOf is looking to change that. Alongside big names like Ron Howard, Billy Bob Thornton, and Michel Gondry were interviews with composer Adrian Younge, cinematographer Gary Shaw, and casting director Todd Thaler. The goal, the founders stressed, is to give people an idea of the different opportunities they can have working in film, and to provide them the opportunity to learn from the experts in every field.

“We hope that the content on our site has a huge educational value,” Aylward said, comparing MakingOf to a virtual film school (except, y’know, free). MakingOf is organized in a way that allows users to access all content related to a specific field. (For a 40-minute interview with Thornton, for example, budding writers have the option of viewing only the portions that relate to his work as a screenwriter.) An interactive community forum will also open users up to a wealth of valuable long-distance networking opportunities. “But no gossip,” Aylward promised.

Portman pointed out that people shouldn’t consider MakingOf hitched solely to her star. She has conducted one interview so far—with Jim Sheridan, the director of her latest film, Brothers—but they have a talented crew working on the site’s content. “I don’t want it to be the ‘me’ site,” she said. “I want it to be about filmmaking.”

Both women were quick to admit that the site is still a work in progress, but the already-ambitious goals they discussed were compounded by questions and suggestions from the enthusiastic audience. What about a place for people on the business side of things? How about learning what goes into a red-carpet premiere? Will you be able to download interviews to your iPod? “This is great!” beamed Portman. “It feels like a brainstorming session!”
 

Natalie Portman and Christine Aylward will present MakingOf to a public audience today, April 24, at 3:30 p.m. at the Apple Store SoHo as part of Apple and indieWIRE's Meet the Filmmakers series.